Global Terrorism This Week (GTTW) – October 24-30, 2022

Thought of the week: What exactly is going on in Yemen?

Yemen does not get a lot of attention in the West. The area formerly known as Arabia Felix – happy Arabia – is anything but these days!

There has been a low-level war ongoing for years now between the Houthis, a Shia group supported in large part by Iran, and the (former?) government of President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi. It began way back in 2014/2015 and has lingered since, leading to high levels of damage to the economy and, as is usual in war, hardship for the Yemeni people. The Saudis and the UAE got involved early on because of Iran’s role.

The debate continues whether the Houthis are a “terrorist group”: the outgoing Trump Administration in the US listed them as such, and the UN followed suit in February 2022. I am skeptical that they are an actual terrorist group, but there are clearly many who disagree with me.

The bottom line is that foreign interference, both by Iran to the aid of the Houthis as well by the Saudis and Emiratis for the ousted Mansour Hadi government, is unhelpful. Yemen has long ranked among the world’s poorest nations. The UN warned back in March that Yemen’s already dire hunger crisis is “teetering on the edge of outright catastrophe”.

And there is no signs that the situation will get significantly better any time soon. Whether you think this is a civil war, a legitimate counter terrorism campaign or simply a case of meddlesome neighbours, Yemen is certainly ‘infelix’ these days.

This week by the numbers

Countries where an attack occurred: 14 (Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel/Palestine, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Somalia, Syria)

Casualties (dead/injured/terrorists arrested/terrorists killed): 172/412/28/78

Predominant ideology of attackers: Jihadi/Islamist

Right-Wing attacks: 0 (zero)

Afghanistan

• Unidentified armed men attacked a Taliban vehicle in western Afghanistan on October 27, killing five medical personnel and wounding an unspecified number.
• Russian President Putin warned on October 27 of the concentration of militant groups on Afghanistan’s borders as well as their attempts to infiltrate Central Asia and set up clandestine terrorist cells.
• Taliban security authorities stated that an explosion that took place at a mosque in Kabul on October 28 resulted in the injuries of seven people (other reports said there were ten wounded).

Burkina Faso

• Ten Burkina Faso soldiers were killed and 50 wounded on October 24 in an attack on an army base by jihadis, of whom at least 18 died.
• Burkina Faso announced on October 25 its plans to recruit 50,000 civilians as army auxiliaries to fight jihadists.
• Burkina Faso’s interim President Ibrahim Traore assured U.S. diplomats on October 27 that he has no intention of inviting Russian Wagner forces to fight militants in the country.
• At least 15 soldiers and volunteer militiamen were killed on October 29 in the latest ambush by Islamist militants in the eastern province of Burkina Faso: 4 soldiers were wounded and 11 are also missing.

Cameroon

• Kidnapping for ransom increases in Northern Cameroon by Boko Haram terrorists and others.

Finland

• Turkey continues to demands the extradition of PKK and FETO terrorists from Finland.

France

• A 21-year old French man given a one-year jail sentence on October 25 for posting online hate speech messages targeting victims of the 2016 Nice terror attack: he posted “80 fascists had disappeared”.

Germany

• Two former German soldiers were convicted on October 23 for trying to form a terrorist group in Yemen to take control of an area held by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, forcing peace talks between them and Yemen’s internationally recognised government.: They wanted to create a paramilitary unit of 100 to 150 people, predominantly current and former German soldiers, and were allegedly influenced by “ideas coloured by Christian fundamentalism” and by a desire to make money.

India

• Indian Security forces killed a foreign terrorist while attempting to infiltrate the Line of Control in the Sudpora area of the Kupwara district on October 26.
• Assam police detained a third person on October 25 for alleged links with terrorist organisations following the sealing of a private museum that purportedly showcased the culture and traditions of Bengali-origin Muslims.
• An Indian soldier was injured during a clash with unspecified militants in a forest area of Sultanpora Kandi, Baramulla on October 26.
• Indian security forces killed a foreign terrorist (read: jihadi?) while he was attempting to infiltrate the Line of Control in the Sudpora area of the Kupwara district on October 26.
• One unidentified militant was killed and two others were arrested in two separate anti-militancy operations in Kashmir on October 30.

Indonesia

• Indonesian Police arrested a woman wearing a niqab and carrying a Quran when she brandished a gun near the Indonesian President’s palace – motive unclear. Police had killed woman inspired by ISIS who had fired on police HQ last year. The country’s counter-terrorism force Densus 88 later identified two other suspects involved in the case from the self-styled Jakarta Islamic State.

Iran

• ISIS claimed attack on Shia shrine in Iranian city of Shiraz on October 26 in which 15 people were killed and at least 40 wounded. The gunman, who sustained unspecified injuries during his post-killing spree, died on October 29.
• Terrorists shot and killed an Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) member and a Basij soldier in a square in the southeastern city of Zahedan on October 25.

Iraq

• Iraqi Federal Intelligence Agency operatives arrested six ISIS-affiliated terrorists, including a commander, in separate operations in Baghdad on October 25.
• ISIS terrorists ambushed and killed an Iraqi soldier and injured another in the Daquq district of Kirkuk on October 26.
• Iraqi security forces seized a large cache of weapons during a raid on an ISIS hideout in the city of Jasem on October 25.
• Iraqi forces thwarted an ISIS attack on the outskirts of the village of Chardaghli in Salahdin province on October 28.

Israel/Palestine

• Five Palestinians, reportedly all gunmen, were killed in a major Israeli raid against the Lion’s Den terrorist group on October 25 in the occupied West Bank. A sixth Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli troops who were attacked with stones in a protest against the raid.
• A Palestinian member of the Hamas terrorist group killed an Israeli settler in Hebron and was in turn shot dead by a security guard on October 30. Five others were wounded by the terrorist.
• Extremist Israeli Jewish settlers on October 30 attacked Palestinian people and their property in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron.
• Israeli forces killed a Palestinian on October 30 near Jericho after he allegedly rammed his car into a group of Israeli soldiers, injuring five.

Kurdistan

• Dozens of schools in Makhmour’s outlying villages have remained closed out of fear of ISIS’ continued hit-and-run activities and their presence in the region’s open terrains.

Morocco

• European MP Tomas Zdechovsky called on the legislative body to counter Polisario’s “terrorist threat”, and added that the Tindouf camps in Algeria is “fertile land for terrorism and Jihadi ideology.”
• Morocco’s Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations (BCIJ) arrested five individuals for their alleged involvement in ISIS on October 25 and 26.

Mozambique

• Jihadis attacked the district of Namuno in the northern province of Cabo Delgado on October 29, killing at least two (the village head and his wife, who were both beheaded) and setting fire to homes, a school and a tractor belonging to a local farmers’ association.

Niger

• At least two Niger Police officers were killed in a suspected terrorist attack on a police station in a town near the Burkina Faso border on October 25.

Nigeria

• The Nigerian Department of State Services asked its citizens to remain calm but vigilant following the security alert issued by the US Embassy in Abuja that there could be possible terrorist attack in the city the week of October 24. The Nigerian government tightened security around the Abuja Airport as a consequence. Tension heightened in Abuja as churches beefed-up security, parents begged schools to shut down, Ireland, Canada, Australia, and others told their citizens to leave the country.
• Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP) terrorists stormed an enclave belonging to rival Boko Haram (BH), killing six and seizing weapons.
• Jabi Lake, a popular mall in the Nigerian capital city Abuja, shut down operations amid tensions over threats of terror attacks after warnings by US, UK Australia and Canada diplomatic representations.
• The UN’s Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) stated on October 25 that it had reasons to believe BH and ISWAP terrorists are planning to abduct humanitarian workers in Borno.
• At least eight suspected BH members were allegedly killed during an attack on Army Barracks in New Bussa, Borgu Local Government of Niger State on October 29.

Pakistan

• Unknown assailants shot dead a policeman providing security to a polio vaccination health worker in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan on October 25 – no group has claimed responsibility.
• A Tehrik-Taliban-Pakistan IED blast killed seven Pakistani security members in Lakki Marwat District on October 25.
• Police shot and killed two suicide bombers when they attempted to attack the office of the head of a peace committee in Ifran Colony: two suicide vests, two AK rifles, two SMGs, 7 hand grenades, and ammunition were recovered at the scene of the encounter. 
• Two Pakistani army soldiers were killed in an exchange of fire with unspecified terrorists in Dera Ismail Khan on October 29.
• Three people were killed and one injured in an attack on a vehicle in Darra Adamkhel on October 27: identity of terrorists not given.

Philippines

• At least 21 Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) rebels surrendered to government forces in Castilla on October 26.
• NPA terrorists killed two soldiers in Abra province on October 26.
• Philippines Police discovered an NPA weapons cache in a forested area in Ragay, Camarines Sur, on October 24. The cache included four  M16 rifles, one M14 rifle, 16 cans of improvised explosives devices  (IED), detonation wire, three long magazines for M16 rifles, 160 bullets for a caliber 5.56 A2 M16 rifle, one buffer tube with spring for an A2 and M16 rifle.  They also discovered NPA bomb components in a mountainous area of Villa Mendoza, Quezon, on October 25: a militant who was seen in the area fled as the police approached. Police recovered a hand grenade, improvised explosive devices, fuses, and a bag containing 1/8 kilo of nails.
• Government forces clashed with at least 20 NPA militants in Guihungan City, Negros Oriental, on October 29, killing one and wounding several others.

Somalia

• Somalia’s military court executed two Al-Shabaab convicts on October 25.
• Kenya is preparing to send fresh troops to Somalia as part of its ATMIS commitments to fight AS.
• The United Nations stated on October 26 that close to 1 million drought-affected people in Somalia are in areas under the control or influence of AS.
• The Somali National Army (SNA) claimed on October 27 that it had dealt ‘several blows’ to AS in Middle Shabelle during action that lasted hours. An unspecified number of terrorists were reportedly killed and wounded.
• The US government on October 26 revealed the names of five senior AS officials designated as terrorists and believed to be among the most influential members of the al-Qaeda-affiliated armed group.
• Somalia asked the US on October 28 to step up drone strikes against AS.
• Scores of people were killed after twin blasts struck a busy junction near Somalia’s ministry of education in Mogadishu. While there was no immediate claim of responsibility it was most likely the work of AS. Mohamed Issa Koona, a TV journalist who previously worked for Shabelle Media Network, was among dozens of people killed in the blasts. The death total later surpassed 100, with another 300 injured.
• Somali forces retook Ali Gadud Mosque in the Middle Shabelle region on October 30 from AS.
• A Somalia military court on October 30 executed three AS men for separate attacks that killed over a dozen,

South Africa

• The office of the Presidency assured South Africans on October 27 that the nation’s law enforcement agencies were monitoring threats – this in the wake of US alert to its citizens in SA that terrorists “may be planning to conduct an attack targeting large gatherings of people” in Sandton. The President went on to say that there was no evidence of a terrorism threat in Sandton.

Spain

• A Spanish court sentenced an ISIS terrorist to three years in prison for planning to conduct an explosive-laden bomb attack on Barcelona’s Camp Nou Stadium during a Barcelona-Madrid match. The individual’s ISIS handlers ordered him to conduct the attack. No date for the planned attack on the stadium was given.

Syria

• Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT) forces killed a YPG/PKK ring leader during an operation in the Shaddadi region of northern Syria on October 24.
• Turkish forces killed six PKK terrorists who were planning to attack Turkish positions in the Operation Euphrates Shield and Operation Peace Spring Zones of northern Syria on October 24.
• Turkish forces killed 13 YPG/PKK terrorists who opened fire on Turkish positions in the Euphrates Shield and Peace Spring Zones of northern Syria on October 28. In a separate action a Turkish airstrike on a vehicle carrying PKK militants in Sinjar killed two militants and wounded three others on the same day.
• An ISIS suicide attack killed four in Syria’s southern Daraa province on October 28.
• Local gunmen executed an ISIS sharia official in Jassim City on October 28.
• Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) terrorists abducted four citizens in Afrin on October 30.
• Turkish forces ‘neutralised’ 6 PKK terrorists in Syria on October 30.

Togo

• More than 4,000 people have been displaced this year in northern Togo after the security climate worsened following jihadist attacks in neighboring Burkina Faso.

Tunisia

• Tunisian security forces thwarted an IED attack in Sousse on October 27: police say suspect pledged allegiance to ISIS.

Turkey

• Turkish police detained the head of the Turkish Medical Association (TTB), Sebnem Korur Fincanci, for allegedly “spreading PKK terrorist group propaganda” on October 26.
• Turkey jailed nine Kurdish journalists on October 29 on terrorism charges, claiming they had links to the PKK.
• The so-called ISIS high-rank commander and the provincial communications head were arrested in Turkey’s Central Anatolian province of Kırşehir on October 29.

United Kingdom

• An 18-year old UK man from Preston has appeared in court, accused of sharing ISIS videos on social media.

United States

• During a court hearing for Allison Fluke-Ekren, an American female ISIS leader who led Khatiba Nusaybah, an all-female ISIS battalion, family members said she had engaged in the sexual and physical abuse of her own children. She helped train roughly 100 women and girls — some as young as 10 years old — on how to use automatic weapons and detonate grenades and suicide belts.
• Three men were convicted on October 26 for role in plot to kidnap Michigan governor. They were found guilty of gang membership, firearm violations and providing material support for “terrorism” as members of a paramilitary group, and could face up to 20 years in prison.

Yemen

• Iranian-backed Houthi militia responded on October 30 to a UN Security Council statement condemning its attack on the al-Dabba port in Hadramout by threatening to expand its attacks and warning that it could resort to any option to target local energy facilities and maritime trade.